- Author: Shadostruct
- Date: December 8, 2022
- Updated: December 8, 2022
- Expansion: World of Warcraft
The honeymoon phase is over, it’s time to get serious and the official launch of Season 1 is going to put this relationship we have with the new expansion through a real test. Thankfully, it seems one of the most important parts of a relationship, communication, is being taken seriously by Blizzard this time around – so let’s jump into some details!
Vault of the Incarnates
The new raid, complete with 8 bosses, will be available with the arrival of Season 1. The welcome return of tier gear is going to be present straight from the first raid – so make sure not to bling out in too much crafted gear and make room for some heavyweight power! One of the cool new features is that cross-faction raiding will be available from the start, including Mythic difficulty. So if you’re an Alliance player with a Horde friend, rejoice! Cross-realm mythic raiding will release later on in the season, as is tradition. For those hardcore Hall of Fame go-getters, the ruling on this new feature is that 16 out of 20 raiders must be from the same faction and guild to be eligible for a spot. Blizzard released a more in-detail article on the matter of the raid which was covered here.
World Bosses
Take a deep breath of fresh air and let the nostalgia flow through you, because we’re going to be taking down one of four rotating big dragons as our world bosses this time around for some epic gear! These aren’t just any dragons, though, they’re elementally infused baddies with a bone to pick. For the first week Basrikron, The Shale Wing is going to be our target and the element of earth is his specialty.
Mythic+ Keystones
Eight dungeons are going to be available for mythic+, with half of those being from Dragonflight and half from past expansions. The full lineup is:
- Ruby Life Pools
- The Nokhud Offensive
- The Azure Vault
- Algeth’ar Academy
- Halls of Valor (from the Legion™ expansion)
- Court of Stars (from the Legion™ expansion)
- Shadowmoon Burial Grounds (from the Warlords of Draenor™ expansion)
- Temple of the Jade Serpent (from the Mists of Pandaria™ expansion)
The new seasonal affix is called “Thundering” and appears to be a stacking power buff given to players that must be discharged before it becomes too powerful for our puny mortal bodies to handle, else we’ll be stunned for a period of time. Also all enemies receive a flat 5% health buff to make things a bit more fair for the baddies.
The reward structure will be the same as what it was at the end of Shadowlands with your mythic “rating” having breakpoints that will award you a title then a mount. For those ambitious enough to complete a +20 of a dungeon they’ll get a portal to the entrance of said dungeon for easy access. There will also be a super rare title awarded for the players with a top .1% mythic rating – so be on the look out for those “The Thundering Hero” players at seasons end.
PvP Season 1
For those Arena and Battlegrounds fiends out there this will also mark the beginning of the season for competitive PvP as well. A new perk for getting Gladiator rank in PvP will now be a totally sweet Highland Drake appearance makeover. Besides that there’s a slew of goodies including titles, mounts, tabards, weapon illusions, pennants, and cloaks.
You’ll also notice that there will be PvP-specific gear available that will upgrade its ilvl when in PvP combat. Crafted gear will be the starting point and the lowest capped ilvl, with honor gear being the next step up, and then conquest gear being the top tier.
Read on for the full details below in the original Blizzard post.
Dragonflight Season 1 goes live the week of December 12 and brings a new raid, an updated rotation of challenging Mythic+ dungeons, and a new PvP Season. This season will also feature familiar exclusive rewards such as the Ahead of the Curve and Cutting Edge achievements for raids, Keystone Master achievements, rewards for Mythic+, and Gladiator rewards for PvP.
Read on for more details, and prepare to take on all new challenges.
NEW RAID
VAULT OF THE INCARNATES
The Primalists breached the Titan prison used to hold the Incarnates for millennia. Within, Raszageth performs a foul ritual to unleash her siblings so together they can purge the world of the Titans’ influence. The champions of Azeroth must assault this impregnable fortress and break their defenses to end this threat. While many could fall, defeat condemns all the realms to the Incarnates’ reign of fire and blood.
RAID UNLOCK SCHEDULE:
- Week of December 12: Normal, Heroic, and Mythic Vault of the Incarnates will open with the weekly maintenance for each region
- Week of December 19: Vault of the Incarnates Raid Finder Wing 1 opens
- Week of January 2: Vault of the Incarnates Raid Finder Wing 2 opens
- Week of January 16: Vault of the Incarnates Raid Finder Wing 3 opens
Vault of the Incarnates is the first raid players will experience in Dragonflight, featuring eight all-new boss encounters. [Learn More]
CROSS-FACTION MYTHIC, CROSS-REALM, AND HALL OF FAME ELIGIBILITY
Cross-faction Mythic Vault of the Incarnates will be available from the start. Hall of Fame entries will require at least 16 out of 20 raiders from the same guild and faction to be eligible for rewards. Cross-realm will unlock later in the season.
FOUR NEW WORLD BOSSES
Four new World Bosses are raging through the Dragon Isles and will be on a weekly rotation starting with Basrikron, The Shale Wing.
NEW DUNGEON ROTATION
Dragonflight Season 1 will feature a new dungeon rotation for Mythic+. Four dungeons from Dragonflight are included, and four returning dungeons from previous expansions. Here’s the full lineup:
- Ruby Life Pools
- The Nokhud Offensive
- The Azure Vault
- Algeth’ar Academy
- Halls of Valor (from the Legion™ expansion)
- Court of Stars (from the Legion™ expansion)
- Shadowmoon Burial Grounds (from the Warlords of Draenor™ expansion)
- Temple of the Jade Serpent (from the Mists of Pandaria™ expansion)
Mythic+ and PvP Season 1 will also begin the week of December 12 with regional maintenance. For Dragonflight, the item level of rewards from completing Mythic+ runs will not be capped on the first week, as Mythic Vault of the Incarnates will open simultaneously.
The Inspiration Catalyst used to turn non-set pieces of the appropriate slot into a new set piece of the same item level will be available later in Season 1.
NEW SEASONAL AFFIX: THUNDERING
Enemies have 5% more health. While in combat, players are periodically overcharged with primal power from Raszageth’s unending storm. This power comes with great risk, and failure to discharge it quickly can have stunning consequences.
MYTHIC+ REWARDS
The following rewards can be obtained by completing Mythic Keystone Dungeons in Season 1:
- Dragonflight Keystone Conqueror: Season 1 – Attain a Mythic+ Rating of at least 1500 during Dragonflight Season 1.
- Reward: “The Thundering” title
- Dragonflight Keystone Master: Season 1 – Attain a Mythic+ Rating of at least 2000 during Dragonflight Season 1.
- Reward: Mount: Hailstorm Armoredon
- Dungeon Teleports
- Earned for each dungeon by completing a +20 or higher in that dungeon.
- Title awarded to players in the top 0.1% of Mythic+ rating in each region at the end of the season.
- Reward: “The Thundering Hero” title
NEW PVP SEASON
A new PvP Season will also kick off, allowing heroes all over Azeroth a chance to obtain glory in the Arenas and Battlegrounds. The new item level caps for Honor and Conquest gear shake up as follows:
- Crafted PvP gear is Crimson Combatant and has a PvP item level of 398
- Honor PvP gear Crimson Aspirant and has a PvP item level of 411
- Conquest PvP gear is Crimson Gladiator and has a PvP item level of 424
REWARDS
- Title: Crimson Gladiator
- Mount: Crimson’s Gladiator’s Drake
- Dragonriding Appearance: Highland Drake: Embodiment of the Crimson Gladiator
- New Vicious mounts–Alliance and Horde-themed Sabertooth
- New Weapon Illusion
- New Pennant
- New Tabard and Cloak
The Weapon Illusion, Pennant, Tabard, and Cloak will be updated and added in a future content patch before the end of Season 1.
To learn more about Dragonflight, visit Dragonflight.blizzard.com and check WorldofWarcraft.com/news for updates.
See you on the Dragon Isles!
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